SCI Rep: stem cell therapeutic effect of stroke drugs on spinal cord injury

December 19, 2019 / BIOON / - according to a recent study, researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of medicine have found a new way to treat spinal injuries In this study, the authors treated the state of stem cells with a modified form of tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), a drug for Nonhemorrhagic stroke, and then injected them into rats with spinal cord injury The results showed that this treatment can significantly improve the effect of stem cell therapy Their findings were published in scientific reports on December 17, 2019 (image source: www Pixabay Com) TPA is used to break down thrombus and make blood flow back to brain more freely after stroke At the same time, TPA can also promote the growth of neurons and inhibit inflammation As a result, the researchers used the enzyme free form of tPA, which still has anti-inflammatory and neuronal growth promoting functions In the lab, the researchers added the modified TPA to the neural progenitor cells, the precursors of neurons Fifteen minutes later, the researchers injected TPA treated or untreated neural progenitor cells into a rat model of severe spinal cord injury After two months of treatment, the researchers found that tPA treated nerve progenitor cells were 2.5 times more than untreated cells Moreover, TPA treated cells have begun to differentiate into mature neurons "It's amazing that over two and four months, these progenitors have improved dramatically in their ability to survive in the damaged lumen," she said In the past, it has been very difficult to keep these cells alive What's more, it turns out that after four months of treatment, the motor ability of rats has tripled The team next plans to further study the exact role of the improved tPA in stimulating the growth of neural progenitor cells at the molecular level and enabling them to help repair spinal cord injury Source of information: stroke drug boosts stem cell therapy for strategic core intervention in rates source: Yasuhiro Shiga, Akina Shiga, Pinar mesci, hyojun Kwon, coral brifault, John H Kim, Jacob J jeziorski, chanond nasamran, Seiji Ohtori, alysson R muotri, Steven L gonias, Wendy M Campana Tissue-type plasminogen activator-primed human ipsC-derived neural progenitor cells promote motor recovery after severe spinal cord injury Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55132-8